Gaylor conspiracy theory

Gaylor, sometimes referred to as Gaylorism, is the fringe theory that claims the American musician Taylor Swift to be gay or otherwise non-heterosexual. The small faction of her fans who subscribe to this belief are called Gaylors. They assert that Swift has signaled queerness through her music, lyrics, and other works.

Taylor Swift on the 1989 World Tour (2015); Gaylor purports that Swift is a closeted queer woman conformed to heteronormative expectations of the general public and media.

Gaylors perceive Swift as a closeted sapphic woman forced to conform to a heteronormative society and disregard her heterosexual relationships as PR stunts. The theory originated in blogs of the early 2010s, and initially revolved around a rumored romantic relationship between Swift and the American actress Dianna Agron. It gained considerable traction and tabloid coverage when some fans began shipping Swift with the American model Karlie Kloss in 2014. Both Agron and Kloss have dismissed the alleged relationships as rumors.^[a]

Critics, authors, and mainstream media have largely rejected Gaylor as an invasive conspiracy theory resulting from some fans' parasocial interaction with her. A majority of Swifties criticize Gaylor as a far-fetched and malicious rumor, and dub it disrespectful to Swift, who has described herself as an ally. In 2023, she wrote in the 1989 (Taylor's Version) album prologue that the tabloid media have sexualized her friendship with women in the same way they have reported her association with male friends. Swift's correspondents have described Gaylor as "invasive, untrue and inappropriate",^[1] in response to articles about the topic. Swift announced her engagement to the American football player Travis Kelce in 2025.

Background

Taylor Swift is an American singer-songwriter, with a career of enduring success since 2006. Lyrically, a significant portion of her discography is about love and related topics. Her private life is highly publicized by the press, reporters, and media outlets, both printed and online, and her dating life a subject of constant tabloid scrutiny.^[2][3] According to the journalist Jody Rosen, the media enjoys guessing the celebrity inspiration behind Swift's songs.^[4] Some media outlets and journalists are also noted for their frequent reporting of Swift for clickbait and readership gains, capitalizing on consumer interest in "juicy" gossip about Swift's life.^[5][6]

Rumors about Swift's sexuality and romantic inclinations have existed since the early days of her career.^[7] She has been rumoured to have been romantically linked with famous acquaintances she has never officially dated, such as Cory Monteith, Adam Young, Chord Overstreet, Eddie Redmayne, Zac Efron, and Alexander Skarsgård.^[8][9][10] Swift has also been the subject of multiple conspiracy theories, with a falsified public image being the common theme.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Definition and scope

Gaylor is a closeting conspiracy theory about Swift.^[7] The term "Gaylor" is a portmanteau of "gay" and "Taylor".^[15] Fans or listeners of Swift who believe Gaylor are referred to as Gaylors. They have been described as sub-fandom^[16][17] and an online subculture of the Swifties.^[18] Gaylors believe Swift is sexually or romantically attracted to women, and therefore she is a closeted lesbian,^[19] or at least sapphic.^[15] According to Gaylors, Swift's music and other works include coded signals about her queer sexuality. They consider her romantic relationships with men as lies fabricated to distract the public from her secretive relationships with women, specifically with the American model Karlie Kloss.^[19] The LGBTQ publication Them stated that Gaylor comprises queer analyses of her lyricism and a queer understanding of her female relationships, especially those with Kloss and the American actress Dianna Agron.^[15] As per reporter Jon Niccum, Gaylors "embrace subversive readings of Swift's songs and seek to compile evidence she is secretly queer."^[20] Gaylors, who are mostly queer women,^[21] refer to non-Gaylor Swifties as "Hetlors"—who believe Swift's sexuality is not on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, and that Swift is heterosexual unless she announces otherwise.^[22]

Origins

Dianna Agron (left) and Karlie Kloss (right) are two celebrities that are often associated with Swift in Gaylor theories.

Beliefs associated with Gaylor originated on blogs in the early 2010s, around the time when some tabloids reported that Swift is romantically involved with Agron, who was known for her breakout role as Quinn Fabray in the comedy drama musical Glee (2009–2015).^[23][24] Some fans speculated about a relationship between the two after Swift named Agron in the liner notes of her album Red (2012). Fan theories arose about themes in Swift's music, social media posts, and a tattoo that Agron got removed that allegedly pointed to a romantic relationship.^[25]

There was also a rumor that Swift and Agron were involved in a love triangle with NFL player Tim Tebow, which Agron denied on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Tebow denied on Good Morning America.^[26] In an interview for Rolling Stone in 2023 Agron was asked how she felt about being the inspiration for one of Swift's songs and about the theory that she and Swift had dated.^[25][27] Agron has described the rumors "funny" and that many "wildly untrue" claims have been reported about her dating life.^[28][29]

Kloss befriended Swift in 2012 or 2013,^[30] and has been shipped with Swift since.^[31] Kloss had been dating the American businessman Joshua Kushner since 2012;^[32] they married in 2018 and have two children, and as of 2025, pregnant with a third.^[33][34] One of the first significant controversies in Gaylor theory occurred in December of 2014, when pictures and video clicked by a fan at a The 1975 concert attended by Swift and Kloss were made public; the fan claimed that the picture and video showed Swift and Kloss kissing,^[35][36][37] an event that some referred to as Kissgate.^[38][39] Swift and her publicist both responded shutting down the rumor.^[40][41]

Some Gaylors believe Swift and Kloss had a glass closet relationship, knowing the media would straightwash them as they have done with celebrities like Kristen Stewart and Demi Lovato.^[42][43] In 2016, Swift moved to Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village, half a mile from Kloss's home,^[44] which some Gaylors believe was indicative of a romantic relationship.^[42] Swift's representative described these allegations as "crap".^[45]

Developments and interpretation

Gaylors believed Swift swapped a lyric in her song "New Year's Day" from "I want your midnights" to "I want her midnights" during a performance at the Time 100 gala on April 23, 2019,^[46][47] which followed an uptick in rainbow imagery on her social media.^[46] During this time Swift was also teasing a big announcement for April 26, 2019, lesbian visibility day, and there was speculation she was planning to come out.^[39] The announcement ended up being the release of her single "Me!" off her Lover album.^[48]

Swift released the single "You Need to Calm Down", a song in support of the LGBTQ+ community on June 14, 2019, during Pride Month. In the lyric video for the song she spelled the word "glad" as "GLAAD", which resulted in surge of donations for the organization.^[49][50] The same night she appeared as a surprise guest at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Stonewall riots at the Stonewall Inn, where she performed "Shake It Off" with Jesse Tyler Ferguson of Modern Family.^[51] Swift released the music video for "You Need to Calm Down" on June 17, which shows her wearing what some identified as the bisexual pride colors in her hair.^[52] In the video she features almost 30 queer and trans celebrities, as well as several references to queer culture. The video ends with a link to a change.org petition in support of the Equality Act, which she also wrote an open letter to Senator Lamar Alexander in support of.^[50] While some believed Swift's increased support for the LGBTQ+ community was indicative of a queer identity^[53] or simply an example of allyship,^[54][55] others criticized her actions, particularly "You Need to Calm Down", as being performative activism or queerbaiting.^[56][57]

Swift, despite being one of the biggest musicians in history, closely follows her fans on social media, which has been dubbed "Taylurking", and she sometimes even interacts with them directly. She also sends her fans packages and donations, hand selects fans to do free meet and greets with at her shows, and after following and vetting individual fans for periods of months online, invites them to her home for gatherings and performances.^[58] Swift has said that she is "really in touch with [her] fans". This has been cited as one reason for the persistence of Gaylor.^[58][47]

A key component of Gaylor theory is the belief that Swift uses easter eggs as a form of queer coding, to communicate messages about her sexuality or secret relationships to her LGBTQ+ and ally fans without outing herself.^[38] Easter eggs have been integral part of Swift's career and her legacy.^[59][60][61] Swift has said she "trained" her fans to look for hidden meaning in everything she does. Her use of easter eggs extends far beyond her body of work.^{[62][63][64][65]} Gaylors have latched onto Swift's intentional use of easter eggs, as well as reputation for being in tune with her fanbase,^[47] as evidence that the queer subtext they see is being planted for them to find.^[38]

Swift began using easter eggs in the CD booklet for her debut album (2006). She stylized the lyrics in all lowercase and used uppercase for seemingly random letters to spell out secret messages to her fans, which is a form of easter egg she continued to use with some of her other albums. During her Reputation (2017) era, Swift drastically expanded and increased her use of easter eggs, starting with the lead single "Look What You Made Me Do" and its music video. This increase in easter eggs was born out of her desire to continue to communicate with her fans during a time when she was not giving interviews.^[65][63] Reputation was a pivotal moment in Swift's career^[66][67][68] and for the Swifties, who grew more tightly knit as a result of Swift's disappearance from the public eye. Reputation was also a significant moment for Gaylor, because with the increase in easter eggs there was an increase in things to be interpreted through a queer lens. Several ongoing themes in Swift's work that are often cited as Gaylor evidence arose during the Reputation rollout.^[38] Some considered Swift's 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore as "queer albums".^[69] Nuanced interpretations of songs such as "You Need to Calm Down" (2019), "The Very First Night" (2021),^[22] "Lavender Haze" (2022),^[70] and "Betty" (2020) are considered by Gaylors as proofs of their theory.^[69]

Gaylors are mostly an online community. The subreddit titled "Gaylor Swift", where popular discussions supporting Gaylor have taken place, had more than 50,000 members as of 2025, before it went private.^[71] Gaylors have hosted events and gatherings such as "Camp Gaylore" to discuss Swift and her discography in a queer lens.^[17]

Responses

Criticism and rebuttal

It became clear to me that for me, there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with. If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him, and so I swore off hanging out with guys. Dating, flirting, or anything that could be weaponized against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the Victorian era. Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn't sensationalize or sexualize that, right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.

— Swift, in the prologue of 1989 (Taylor's Version) (2023)^[72]

Swift has described herself as an ally, "not a part" of the LGBTQ community.^{[1][73][74][75]} Therefore, the majority of Swifties criticize Gaylor theories as far-fetched, malicious, and disrespectful to Swift. Journalists likewise dismiss it as an invasive and baseless conspiracy theory, a consequence of some fans' parasocial interest in her.^[76][77][78] In the album prologue to 1989 (Taylor's Version), Swift stated that her female friendships have been sexualized in tabloid media coverage in the same way her male acquaintances have been.^[79][80] A January 2024 opinion article by writer Anna Marks, published in The New York Times, speculated that Swift is a closeted queer person based on Marks' perceptions of Swift's lyrics and aesthetics, drawing criticism from Swifties and other readers. Subsequently, CNN Business reported that Swift's personnel found the article "invasive, untrue and inappropriate".^[1][81] American country singer and queer activist Chely Wright commented that "seeing a public person's sexuality being discussed is upsetting."^[82]

In August 2025, Swift announced engagement to the American football player Travis Kelce, who had proposed to her after dating her since 2023. Gaylors "mourned" the news and had a "melt down" according to reporters, and the Gaylor subreddit went private to avoid trolling from outsiders.^[71][83] Rolling Stone reported that, before going private, some subreddit members claimed Kelce is a beard and that Swift's engagement dress looks like a prison uniform, while others questioned if their beliefs were always false.^[45] Some members also claimed to have suffered severe mental distress over the news, including a panic attack.^[83] Some fans declared that the relationship is "staged for public consumption", while others acknowledged Swift as a bisexual woman.^[16] The LGBTQ magazine Out stated that Gaylors "will find any way to push their agenda" even after the engagement.^[83]

Scholarly assessment

Taylor has this image of being very heterosexual. Earlier in her career, she was criticized for singing and writing too much about her boyfriends and for being overly invested in patriarchal, heteronormative romance. For fans to find queer themes in her songs — or to think she is herself queer — is quite remarkable.

— Brian Donovan, professor of sociology at University of Kansas^[20]

Various authors and academics have described Gaylor as a conspiracy theory.^[84][7] American sociologist Brian Donovan of the University of Kansas has extensively studied fandoms, Swift, and the various subsets of Swifties. He published a paper dedicated to Gaylors in December 2024, affirming the queer interpretation of her music but disapproved of harmful parasocial interactions and queer reimagination of Swift's life.^[20] English columnist Sarah Ditum wrote in The Critic that, while a popular musician being closeted made sense in the 20th century—as was the case of the English singer-songwriter George Michael, it does not apply to the 21st-century as queerness is no longer a "career impediment" for pop artists. Ditum cited Chappell Roan, Reneé Rapp and Billie Eilish as examples of successful and openly queer, female popstars.^[85] Gay Times author Zoya Raza Sheikh opined, "while there's nothing wrong with viewing Swift's work through a queer lens, there's an issue when these readings are mainstreamed – and therefore legitimized", and suggested that listeners looking for queer visibility should explore acts like Rapp or Omar Apollo instead of Swift.^[82]

See also

• Larries, a sub-fandom with a similar belief
• Avril Lavigne replacement conspiracy theory

Footnote

1. When questioned about the veracity of Gaylor, both Agron and Kloss refused to confirm the rumors and highlighted that tabloid media stories about them are not true. Agron went on to marry the British musician Winston Marshall in 2016 and divorced him in 2018. Kloss married the American investor Joshua Kushner in 2018, becoming a mother of two and is expecting a third as of 2025.